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We're 19 days until the 2018 midterm elections and 747 days until the 2020 elections.

The three-term Democrat told the Tampa Bay Times on Wednesday that he would hit the campaign trail once again, saying that he has "done everything I can do" on hurricane recovery efforts, at least for the time being.

"I'm going to campaign," Nelson said, according to the newspaper. "I've spent the last week in the Panhandle in those storm ravaged counties, and have done everything I can do and they know to call me if they are getting any hiccups. But in the meantime, I'm going to continue to make my case to the people."

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That's a remarkably different approach than the one his Republican challenger, Florida Gov. Rick Scott, is taking. Scott's campaign announced earlier this week that the governor would take an indefinite hiatus from campaigning, while he dealt with storm recovery efforts.

Make no mistake, Scott's decision to focus on disaster response and recovery is a political strategy in and of itself. The governor has made numerous television appearances to discuss the hurricane and its aftermath as he seeks to show off his leadership chops ahead of the Nov. 6 election. Meanwhile, Scott has dispatched surrogates, including his wife Ann, across the state and his campaign operation is still very much active.

In returning to the campaign trail, Nelson is seeking to reach voters outside Florida's hurricane-stricken panhandle. Just how that strategy plays out remains to be seen. But what's clear is that with less than three weeks to go before Election Day, the Florida Senate race is as unpredictable as the state itself.

Democratic candidates have raked in more than $1 billion so far this year. The figure tops the $900 million Republicans raised in the lead up to the 2012 election cycle. This year, Republicans have raised $709 million through last month. 2018 also marks the first year Democrats have outperformed GOP candidates in direct campaign contributions since 2008.

Democratic mega-donor Tom Steyer is pumping $2 million into Gillum's gubernatorial campaign, CNN reports. At the same time, Steyer's organization, Need to Impeach, is launching a direct mail program targeting 300,000 voters in Florida who have signed his petition to impeach Trump. NextGen America, another group backed by Steyer, has already spent $5 million in support of Gillum.

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is targeting House candidate Dan Feehan (D- Minn.) in a new ad, connecting him to Democratic billionaire and donor George Soros. The ad also takes swipes at former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick and "left-leaning mobs." Feehan, a former veteran and member of the Obama administration, is battling Trump-backed candidate Jim Hagedorn.

Trumptweeted out an endorsement of Rep. Dave Brat (R-Va.) Thursday, jumping into the race for Virginia's 7th District. The endorsement comes as Brat, a two-term incumbent, tries to fight off a challenge from Democrat Abigail Spanberger, a former CIA agent who has sought to cast herself as a moderate. A Monmouth University poll conducted last month showed Spanberger leading Brat by 5 points.

Democrats are increasingly optimistic about their odds of making inroads in the Midwest – an area of the country that helped catapult Trump to the White House in 2016. The party is betting that a coalition of progressives, college-educated suburban voters and working-class women will help them retake control of the House in November, McClatchy DC reports.

Trumptweeted Thursday that "all Republicans support people with pre-existing conditions, and if they don't, they will after I speak to them." The tweet comes as Republicans are under fire in races across the country for their votes to repeal ObamaCare and its protections for people with pre-existing conditions, The Hill's Peter Sullivan notes.

What they're saying

In an op-ed,Carlos Gustavo Poggio Teixeira, a visiting scholar in the Department of Government at Georgetown University, argues that Democrats are poised to nominate their equivalent of Trump in 2020. But, he writes, "the Democrat's Donald Trump will look a lot different than the original Republican version."

Election Countdown was written by Max Greenwood, Rachel Cohen, Kenna Sturgeon, Madeline Rundlett and James Wellemeyer.